About Christeen

Hi there,

My name is Christeen, & I’m a 34 year old artist from Western Ny. My love for drawing and painting started when I was a child. I have been drawing ever since I can remember. I watched drawing and painting shows as a kid, then started reading books about drawing- perspective, figure drawing, landscape drawing, and so on. I certainly can’t say I understood everything I read, but I wanted to learn. I was intrigued by art books, and poured over them for weeks on end.

I received a really nice set of Pelikan German watercolors when I was 13 or so, and threw myself into watercolor paintings with gusto. I continued sketching people, places, flowers, pets and fantasy art through my teens and into my early 20s, often taking commissions for portraits and tattoo art. I dropped out of high school when I was 17, and found an even greater vitality in paining. I was beginning to focus, and starting to delve into more illustrative work.

When I was 19, I was given a position in a grocery store designing their environmental graphics- my first exposure to commercial design. I really enjoyed it! I worked there for about 5 years. During that time I began to do a lot of residential, interior mural work. Once a month, I lead a painting at my local nursing home, on a volunteer basis. (Fun!)

From there, at 24, I went to college. I wanted to take every class- learn about everything. I settled on a degree in Graphic Design with emphasis on Illustration, and minors in religious studies, and painting. It took about six years to earn my BS; I took way more classes than I really needed to. I was awesome to finally have some help learning things about art and design that I couldn’t figure out for myself.

After college I found myself kind of lost for a couple of years. I was working in a nursing home, & had some serious hiccoughs in my life that seemed to drag out the process of finding work in my field. When I realized that I was procrastinating out of fear, I decided to start freelancing where I was able to, after work. Taking graphic jobs and working with different sorts of clients has grown easier with time. Last year, I quit my job in order to work on graphic design projects, and to paint.

That’s what I’m doing today! I have experience with many mediums, methods, and subjects, but my passion has come back around to watercolor painting and oils. I most enjoy working with colorful still life arrangements. I learn new things every time I pick up a brush. My biggest challenge right now is to not drop the ball- to keep my momentum going, and paint as often as I can.